A Stop At Kleinschmidt's Country Western Store (Home of 19,000 Pairs of Boots), Then on to Kanasa City

Beautiful Downtown Effingham at Dusk

Sunset, American Style, Effingham

Well, I woke at 4:00, 5:00 EST just like the past two mornings.  Weird.  This happens to me every couple of weeks, then I am back in normal routine.  I tip toed out of our hotel room, went down to the Breakfast Buffet and, of course, Fox News was on, like every lobby in the US.  I poured a cup of coffee, sat down, and surfed the Net for about fifteen minutes before taking a couple of cups of coffee back to the room for Evie, who was awake.  I went back to the buffet, had a cheese omelet and sausage patty (why not, unhealthy but free), read some, then went back to the room to get ready for our ride to Kansas City and our grandchildren.  We cannot wait to see them.  We last saw them at Thanksgiving, when we made this same drive, same stop, ah routine.

Our travel yesterday, on 590 miles of the United State's finest high ways, was easy and the ride went fast.  We listened to Sirius radio all the way, getting our fill of the firing of the Rutgers coach, the posturing of North Korea, the gun debate and the big news about Obama,  that 15% of Americans believe he is the anti Christ not just a terrible basketball shooter (Fox News).

Other than Fox news, it was sunny most of the way, lots of brown fields, no snow,  ready to be cultivated and I am always stunned at how flat the landscape becomes once you get on Interstate #70, heading west from Columbus, through Indiana and Illinois.  Field after field disappear off to the horizon on both sides of the interstate, broken only by the ubiquitous signs, advertising almost anything, from trinity of gas, fast food, and hotels,  to doctors, tractors, and even Jesus.  Nothing is sacred when it comes to advertising on a billboard.

We whipped in to our Hampton Inn at 3:30, a nine hour drive, in Effingham , of course, got our magic key  cards, went to our room and  I relaxed, surfing the net, watched ESPN while Evie, the good girl, worked out in the gym here at the Inn.  Actually, we were just filling the time until we can go to the Lone Star Steak House and not feel like reprobates, hitting the bar during sunlight.

The Good Life at the Lone Star Steak House

We enjoyed our dinner at the Lone Star, talked to a couple of people, one a salesman from Kentucky who sells specific pool equipment, to businesses as well as homes.  He played soccer for Kentucky, loved their basket ball team, of course.  When he left, we struck up a conversation with a woman from a little town in Illinois, who sells crop insurance, mostly to ethanol producers, not individual farms, which get their insurance from the government, a real rip off according to her as the farmers get rich on the government's teat, as it were.  She says it's almost more profitable to not plant, then to plant because of the largess of the government.  She was in her forties, quite nice and talked about her daughter's upcoming wedding, which she was having to plan as well as work.  She makes a good saleswoman, I am sure because she is talkative, outgoing, and fun. Both, like other people we have met here in Effingham, seem to stay at this particular Hampton on their travels and eat here at the Lone Star because it's a two minute walk from the Inn.

For dinner, Evie had chicken with spinach and cheese and I had my usual, a Bubba burgers, with cheese, bacon, and the works.  We had a couple of Blue Moons and my they tasted good and went back to our room around 8:00, to read and watch TV before falling asleep around 9:30.   A good day of travel.

We should be in Kansas City by 3:00 at the latest, just in time to meet Marlena from the school bus.  Tomorrow, it's supposed to be in the 70's in Kansas City...get out the shorts and tee shirts.  Spring has arrived for sure in Kansas City.